Old Scout ,
What are you planning on using it for exactly? Thickness wise?
Anyways I'll share my experience. When I still had the mobile arm of my business I had a job which I was welding 2 inch cutting pockets onto 3 inch plate on a very large trencher. Well this job started as a stick job (7018 90% vertical) but being a one man show for the most part , and the operaters breaking this fawker up like nothing made me have to be 100% faster than I could do with the stinger. Considering that we needed code quality welds , and speed was essential - we went with a dual sheild specifically Lincolns' Outersheild 71M (AWS E71T-1)in a 1/16 dia using Ar25% balance CO2. This stuff was like nothing I had ever used before! Super easy , super fast , virtually no splatter, excellent bead contour , but was VERY smoky much worse than any normal flux core I have been around.
I will agree with Fleckster that 3/8 is probably the starting point at which you "might" want to start trying this stuff. I personally feel that it would probably be wasted on anything below 3/8 since hardwire works well in the 3/8 & below department anyhow.
Now as far as being able to get it. I called Ram (your local supplier, and a kick ass one at that!) , and they did have .035 in smaller spools but since I was running the 1/16 they wanted me to buy a pallet!!!!! So I brought in a bunch to my local airgas , and bought many a spools weekly for about three months.
OK I just looked through Rams catalog , and found this:
Mc Kay (part of ITW if you did not know) speed-alloy 71-V
.045 dia. 33lb spool for $69.96 (seems abit high)
88,000 psi tensile
75,000 psi yeild
***in case you did not know this wire does have slag! Not quite as thick as say 7018 but not nearly as thin as Lincolns NR211mp***
hope this helps,
Richard